A Youkai Brother
by Avium
Summary: Presenting Sesshoumaru - being a dsyfunctional teenage brother to a very young Inu Yasha. Okay, so it isn't as serious as my last one...


Disclaimers: The usual stuff - all characters in this fanfic belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm only abusing them around so you can't sue me!  
  
  
  
A Youkai Brother  
  
"I'm bored."  
  
The young youkai lord shifted from one propped arm to another in his seat. His golden depths flickered as he scanned the room for something.anything that could serve to amuse him.  
  
It was no wonder that Sesshoumaru was overwhelmed by a sense of apathy. The young lord's room was dimly lit by a single paper lantern that casted an erry glow on all that it flickered upon. The room itself was a monotonous grey - not a very exciting colour for a teenager's abode at any rate.  
  
The Great Lord himself had gone out to wreck some havoc - to stir up a few human camps and loot some cattle for the day.his favourite pastime. Without fail Sesshoumaru once again tried to bug his sire to take him along. Yet the Great Lord wouldn't let him tag along, giving that same old excuse of Sesshoumaru being too young and weak to be of any help in his forays.  
  
"But I can take off those weaklings' heads in a single swipe!" pouted Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Listen to me, boy. Your job is to stay here. You're too young to go out into the world of the humans," the great dog-demon insisted.  
  
"But I'm not young - I'm 16!"  
  
"Do as I say."  
  
Sesshoumaru wasn't quite stupid enough to not recognize the threatening tone in his father's voice, so he meekly backed off. He was still sulking when the Great Lord shifted to his canine form, ready to leave the grand palace.  
  
"And Sesshoumaru.?"  
  
"Yes, father?"  
  
"Don't bully your brother."  
  
With that, the huge dog-demon took off into the air, trailing a white will- o-wisp after it's magnificent stature. Sesshoumaru stood still, watching his father disappear into the distance before he lazily dragged his feet towards the direction of his quarters.  
  
"Jaken."  
  
Sesshoumaru's servant gave an odd squeak before he came hurrying over to his youkai lord's side, a little apprehensive as to what his master might demand of him this time.  
  
"Yes, m'lord?"  
  
For a moment Sesshoumaru didn't speak. He seemed to be deep in thought for sometime before he finally turned to face the little green creature.  
  
".Find me something interesting to do."  
  
Jaken was taken aback by this request for a moment, his jaw hanging down in surprise while he pondered the repercussions of the many suggestions he had running through his head at that moment.  
  
"Well, your grandness can go and have some fun with that half-breed brother of yours." suggested Jaken with a wicked grin on his formless lips.  
  
In reply, the youkai lord promptly placed the sole of his foot on the head of the little creature, quite crushing him into the ground.  
  
Sesshoumaru remained expressionless as he replied, "He's not worth the effort."  
  
After getting tired of hearing his servant squeal and struggle underfoot, the young lord released his hold on Jaken. Jaken gasped for breathe, and in a moment, was back on his feet.  
  
"Of course. The Great Lord will not take kindly to finding Inu Yasha pegged by the ears on the cloth-line again." muttered Jaken as he recalled Sesshoumaru's kind offer to bathe his little brother a week back.  
  
Even Sesshoumaru snickered a little when he recalled how he had dunked the little whelp in soapy water. Ah, that half-breed struggled so hard, but he was no match for a youkai brother 10 years his senior. When he had had his fun of hearing the little whelp scream for his mother, he had him lifted out of the water, swung him by his arms swiftly in an attempt to 'tumble- dry' him before he finally pegged Inu Yasha by those disgusting little ears of his to the cloth-line. Of course, the scene wasn't so pleasant when daddy dearest came home that night.  
  
Sesshoumaru shook that memory out of his head - he had to admit that perhaps he had gone a little too far. Not that he was worried about taking Inu Yasha's ears off, but more of getting into his father's bad books.  
  
I don't understand why did he have to choose a human mate and produce a half-breed for a son.  
  
But soon, the youkai lord was smiling again.  
  
But then again, that whelp can't possibly be chosen to succeed my father. That leaves me with complete control over the West Lands when the time is ripe.  
  
".Brother?"  
  
Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth upon hearing that sickly sweet voice coming from his doorway. For good measure Jaken ducked out of sight. The last thing he expected was to see Sesshoumaru greeting his half-brother with a smile.  
  
"What do you want?" asked the youkai lord, adverting his gaze from the doorway and towards the window instead.  
  
A young Inu Yasha came into the room. He knew his brother's temper, and stayed close to the entrance out of childish fear. He was carrying a rubber ball in his hand, a little soiled from having been rolled about out in the gardens.  
  
"Can you play with me?" asked Inu Yasha.  
  
Sesshoumaru let an amused smile escape from his lips. He turned to gaze at the half-youkai. Those intense golden depths of his seemed to penetrate right into the youngster's soul, causing Inu Yasha to shift uneasily under his deadly stare.  
  
"Go away."  
  
But the little dog-demon wasn't quite going to be put off. He took a few more steps towards Sesshoumaru, and the youkai lord on his part could do nothing to stop his brother's approach - short of killing him of course, which wasn't much of an option really.  
  
"Please?"  
  
At this point his little hand came up to tug at Sesshoumaru's sleeve, and the older youkai looked down with mild surprise in his eyes. Jaken by this time had scrambled out of the room, hiding from the potential explosion of revulsion and anger from his master.  
  
"Please?"  
  
Golden depths into golden depths.  
  
That was the link between them. They were both the sons of the Great Lord of the West Lands, both possessing the same blood and features.  
  
Gods, what have they done to our bloodline.?  
  
Sesshoumaru shook his sleeve free from the little half-youkai's grip, frowning. He was disgusted. Not so much at his brother, but at the fact that they were related. He cannot understand how a great dog-demon like his sire can father offsprings of such varying quality!  
  
Sesshoumaru rose and walked over to his desk. Inu Yasha watched as his brother unrolled a parchment of paper before starting to write on it with a brush.  
  
Slowly and carefully, he approached Sesshoumaru. He couldn't quite see what his brother was writing, so he tip-toed and peeked over the top of the table. Those golden eyes of his shone with curiosity as he tried to make out what Sesshoumaru was writing. To him they were just a bunch of very nice-looking strokes on the paper, possessing no meaning whatsoever.  
  
"Brother, what are you writing?" asked Inu Yasha, turning to face the concentrating youkai.  
  
Sesshoumaru had to fight off the urge to fling out his arm at the half- breed. The nauseating human blood in him reeked like rotting flesh to his sensitive nostrils.  
  
"Words."  
  
"What words?"  
  
"You won't understand."  
  
"Not if you explain to me."  
  
Sesshoumaru turned to face the white-haired dog-demon, a dangerous glint in his eyes.  
  
Gods, these little brats sure can prattle on!  
  
"They're just words, okay?" sighed Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Then. can you read them to me?"  
  
Sesshoumaru replaced the brush with a sigh before he lifted the parchment off the table. Maybe if he satisfied the curiosity of his annoying brother, he can finally get some peace.  
  
"Okay, it says that you're an annoying little whelp and I hate you," lied Sesshoumaru.  
  
He was expecting Inu Yasha to run out of the room brawling, but to his complete horror the little half-youkai opened his mouth there and then and began to scream blue murder. His tears were gushing out like water from a broken dam, and that voice of his. Gods - whenever did they start installing youngsters with internal amplifiers?!  
  
"Hey, shut up!" growled Sesshoumaru.  
  
Still the brawling continued, the voice of the half-youkai echoing off the walls and all over the palace grounds.  
  
This will bring that human mother of his coming!  
  
Not that he feared a mere mortal, mind you. But he wasn't going to let anyone catch him bullying Inu Yasha again. The Great Lord would then give him a piece of his mind, and that was something that he would rather do without.  
  
"Keep quiet. I'm sorry, okay?" snarled Sesshoumaru.  
  
Inu Yasha's voice began to soften, and soon he was just sniffling. His eyes were like crystal when they were stained by tears, and Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth in frustration at being so easily manipulated by his younger sibling.  
  
"You don't like Inu Yasha?" sniffled the half-youkai.  
  
"I love you. I adore you. I'm just crazy about you, okay?" snapped the youkai lord.  
  
"Yayyy!"  
  
The little dog-demon flung his arms around the waist of his brother. For a moment Sesshoumaru stiffened in shock. He wasn't quite expecting this. But that smile on Inu Yasha's face was just so innocent, so radiant.  
  
Unwittingly, he reached out and caressed his brother's fluffy white ears. In response the child pressed his cheek deeper into the warm folds of his brother's clothes.  
  
"Inu Yasha LOVES his big brother!" chirped the youngster in delight.  
  
"Yes, yes."  
  
The older youkai was frowning at his brother's indiscriminate display of affection. A true youkai wouldn't have shown his feelings as easily.  
  
Must be that foul blood of his. Humans.so emotional, so feeling! They live their lives out as if they were on a stage.  
  
"Brother?"  
  
Sesshoumaru gently but firmly pushed the little half-youkai out from his grasp. He had never planned to let such a tainted being come so close to him, and for the moment when he was holding the little life in his arms, he felt so raw and exposed. As if he had been touched in the most intimate of places and a part of his soul had been penetrated by an unseen force.  
  
It must be a human thing.  
  
"Don't do that again."  
  
"Do what?"  
  
Sesshoumaru faced the youngster who had cocked his head quizzically to one side, his eyes bright with innocent and warmth.  
  
"Youkais don't like to be hugged," replied the youkai lord.  
  
"Why?"  
  
Kids.  
  
"Because.youkais don't do this well - showing their feelings and all."  
  
The young dog-demon wasn't quite able to grasp his brother's words, but he could detect a faint hint of sorrow in them. He couldn't perceive why there was sorrow in loving, sorrow in relationships.  
  
"But. does brother like Inu Yasha?" asked the child.  
  
And all he got in reply was a cold, empty stare from his brother.  
  
****  
  
"Inu Yasha."  
  
"Sesshoumaru!"  
  
And when they met over 50 years later, they no longer acknowledged each other as brothers, but as archenemies. After so many battles with his brother, Sesshoumaru still saw the same fault in his half-youkai kin.  
  
You're too emotional, whelp. Too much like those human companions of yours.  
  
And Inu Yasha swang his blade - the pure violence, the anger, the seething rage.  
  
Whenever are you going to learn to control yourself? Your human blood contaminates our father's noble bloodline.  
  
Sesshoumaru easily dodged the swipes from the Tetsusaiga, half-amused by the futile attempts of his sibling in trying to find a mark on him.  
  
And until you learn to be less human, you can never hope to control that proud youkai blood of yours.  
  
I know you have that power, that ability to outshine our father.  
  
Because, I'm your brother after all.  
  
~ End  
  
Author's notes: Gee, I'm really flattered that there were people requesting for me to write more fanfics, so here's the next one! It certainly hasn't got quite the same heavy tone as my first Inu Yasha fanfic 'Precious', but I hope you guys like it all the same. Please R&R! Until then, have a nice day! PS: Don't hurt me, I'm just having some fun with Sesshoumaru - the dysfunctional teenage brother! 


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